Considering moving to Bath from London. Help needed...

[deliciousberry]

Hi ladies,

We are thinking about moving from London to Bath next year. We have 3 daughters aged 7 months, 5 and 7. I doubt we will ever have enough cash for private education so are looking for great state schools both primary and secondary as I'd like to stay put until the girls are through school.

I've been researching areas and schools in and around bath. I am more concerned by the secondary schools as I find that most primary are pretty good, especially with extra help at home.

I looked at the league tables for the secondary schools and Oldfields comes up well. I think that is located in Weston. How is that as an area to live, access to the station etc? What other schools/areas are recommended? I know catchment areas are tight so the school is likely going to dictate where we live!

Thanks ladies. It's a minefield and we want to get this big move right!

M xx

My preferences for state schools in Bath would be Ralph Allen, or Oldfield. Oldfield has only been co-educational for a year or 2 now - was previously a girl's school, but has always had a good reputation and good results. Ralph Allen is the other highly sought after school in Bath itself. It is located in Combe Down to the South of the city, which is lovely. There is apparently a lovely primary school in Combe Down as well. Outside of Bath itself, it may be worth considering Wellsway School catchment area - which would encompass the village of Saltford and one side of Keynsham. Saltford has a good primary school and is about 3/4 miles from the centre of Bath itself. The village of Corston would also fall into this catchment area.
To the East of Bath the secondary in Corsham has a good reputation and St Laurence School in Bradford Upon Avon is also good. I would come down for a weekend and explore the different areas.

Great advice Lapland. Yes, we need to do a recce. I've been obsessing online about to all but it's nothing like visiting properly. What would it be like to buy somewhere in the centre of bath? I quite fancy it but the reality might be a nightmare. I know the traffic in bath is meant to be bad.

Thanks again.

Sorry about delay - I wrote a really long reply and the computer crashed....
The centre of Bath is lovely if you can afford to be within walking distance of the centre and all the amenities. House prices are pretty high for the very central areas and in my opinion you would actually have to compromise on the education if you are going for state schools. Having said that Hayesfield School always gets reasonable results and would be walking distance from some areas near the centre - you would need to check which places are in catchment on the Bath and North East Somerset Council website. It is on a split site so Yrs 7-9 in one set of buildings and 10-13 a 10 minute walk away. Doesn't really effect the pupils on a day to day basis but something that may or may not appeal to you. The other state school near to the centre is St Mark's. Personally I wouldn't consider it, but if you set your heart on a particular house in catchment It wouldn't harm to go and look! Oldfield would be a fairly long walk from the centre and you wouldn't want to do it in your heels on a Saturday night! Again I'm not sure how far into Bath the catchment stretches - I do know that in the past a lot of children from East Bristol have attended Oldfield, which would suggest it's catchment is more towards the West.
I've never lived right in the centre of Bath myself and so don't know how terrible the traffic is! I used to drive from Bristol to west Bath and it was okay - not dreadful, but I never had to hit central Bath during rush hour.

I moved from London to Bath 12 years ago and I love it. There are some lovely and distinct local communities based in a very compact and friendly city.

I have a 3YO going through the process to apply to primary schools and, having 3 older boys, would be happy with a place in most of the primary schools in Bath to be honest. The opportunities presented to the children here are brilliant - lots of after school clubs, active sports teams playing one another, great quality teachers. The catchment areas to some of the more popular ones can be really tight so if I were coming into the city again I'd be looking at what houses I can afford within walking distance to each of the schools and make my decision that way. They're running open evenings and hosting visits right now so worth coming to visit. The atmosphere and ethos of each of them is really very different.

WRT secondary schools - we have kids in Beechen Cliff & Corsham. If I had a daughter I'd be looking at Ralph Allen and St Gregs (both co-ed) for her - they were great when we went to look around for DSs. I'd also look at Hayesfield. I'm not sure about Oldfield Park .... it's just taken in boys and got a new head, combined with a lot of kids coming from Bristol so I'd worry about how it will hold it's current excellent rating IYSWIM. To be honest though it seems to me that every kid in Bath got their first choice this last year regardless of location - the catchment areas for secondary is very confusing here, it isn't unusual to see kids walk two-three miles to get to their secondary, and there are a glut of secondary places as we have a number of new academies and quite a lot of private schools. Again, based on the two schools I do have experience of Corsham and BC - opportunities here are brilliant for the kids. I have discounted St Marks when looking at it a couple of times.

Seriously, the secondaries are fine - as are the primaries tbh.

I'm a bit of people in Weston and Newbridge because it's so easy to get into the city from there and it's on the right side of town for getting into Bristol. Both WASPS and Newbridge primary schools seem very good. I've never liked Oldfield but now it's co-ed perhaps it'll stop being such a fiefdom (the head is quite a character).

To the east of town, most of the secondary age children I know go to Corsham. It's further away in terms of miles, but as they're going against the traffic the commute time is OK. DS gets off the bus home earlier than his friends at Bath schools do, anyway. The ones who wanted to go to Ralph Allen or Hayesfield/Beechen Cliff (the girls/boys schools) got in - one or two after a short period on the waiting list but all before the September start.

IME east of Bath people tend to look out to Wiltshire (not just in terms of schooling) and to the east, Bristol. Traffic in Bath is hideous, basically.

Having said all of that things change really quite quickly - when we moved to where we are now all the local kids went to Ralph Allen, but then it became over-subscribed, and then the cohort shrank and everyone got the school they put as first choice...

Basically I honestly wouldn't base a house purchase decision on secondary schools around here. Find an area you like - think of your commute rather than your children's. Another point is that the secondary school you think would be perfect when your child is 7 will very possibly be quite different to the one that will suit them when you actually apply in Y6.

Hello delicious berry. I've just posted a similar(ish) post on the friendship bench. How far along are you with your decision-making? I'm off for a Bath recce myself over Christmas. I'm looking to move there with my 5 year old girl in the new year. i need to move out of London for financial reasons after a separation. Very positive about the beautiful SouthWest but also very scared! This will be our one and only move and I want to get it right!
I'd love to hear if you've negotiated your way any further through the schools/areas/commuting minefield and are any closer to the big decision.